Washing-machine.



PATENTED FEB. 14, 1905.

H. LINDESTROM.

WASHING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 23, 19-03.

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PATBNTBD FEB. 14, 1905.

H. .LINDBSTROM. WASHING MACHINE APPLIOATIOH FILED SBPTPBB 1903.

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Patented February 14, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

HJALMAR LINDESTROM, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

WASHING-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 782,574, dated February14, 1905.

' Application filed September 23, 1903. Serial No. 174,244.

To all whom it may concern: 7

Be it known that I, HJALMAR LINDESTROM, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Washing-Machines;and Ido hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part ofthis specification.

This invention relates to improvements in washing-machines, and refersmore specifically to an improved actuating device for the beater orrubbing arms, by which the clothes are rubbed against the interiorrubbing-surfaces of the suds box or receptacle.

Among the objects of the invention is to provide an improved actuatingdevice for the beater or stirrer arms of washing-machines which is soconstructed as to balance or render uniform the action of the movingparts of such device and to minimize the work required to operate thesame; and afurther-object of the invention is to improve the operationof the rubbing or beater arms with respect to the coaction thereofwiththe interior rubbing surfaces of the machine or suds-box.

The invention consists in the matters hereinafter set forth, and moreparticularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a longitudinal, vertical section of awashing-machine embodying my improvements, showing in dotted lines thelid thrown backwardly or open and the position of the beater-arms andactuating devices therefor when the lid is open. Fig. 2 is atransversevertical section of said machine.

Fig. 3 is a section similar to Fig. 2, showing First referring to theconstruction shown in Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive, A designates the clothesor suds box, supported on legs or standards A A and provided on its topwith a hinged lid or cover A through which access may be had to theinterior of the box for inserting and removing the clothes. Said boxcomprises a flat top wall a. vertical side walls a a, and a curved walla constituting the bottom and front and rear walls, the whole having thegeneral form of the segment of a cylinder- The curved bottom and frontand rear end wall a of the box is provided interiorly with transversealternate ribs and depressions, constituting a corrugated surfaceagainst which the clothes are rubbed by the beater or stirrer arms, andthe side walls a are similarly provided with alternate ribs anddepressions which preferably radiate centrally from a point near theupper margin of said side walls. B B designate the rubbing or beaterarms, which are nonrotatively fixed to a transverse rock-shaft B,extending across the upper side of the box centrally thereof. Said armsare mounted in sleeves 5, extending through flanges a depending from thelid A and fitting in suitable cut-away places or notches in the uppermargins of the side walls a of the box. The beater-arms and theirrock-shaft are thus carried by the lid. Preferably" the bottom and rearand front wall of the box is curved on a radius concentric with the axisof said shaft B. The rock-shaftB' is provided at its opposite ends,outside the box, with two angularly-disposed arms B B which latter areprovided at their outer ends with weights B B5 Said arms B B extend inopposite directions, so that one of the weights B acts to counterbalancethe other weight. One of said arms is provided between the shaft and itsweight with a handle B by which the shaft is rocked on its axis and thebeater-arms swung from side to side of the box to thereby effect arubbing of the clothes against the inner walls of the suds-box. Saidhandle B is affixed to the arm B by means of aset-screw Z), whereby theposition of the handle relatively to the outer and innerends of said armmay be varied. As a further and separate improvement, the rock-shaft Bis made of somewhat greater length than the width of the machine and iscapable of a limited end wise sliding movement, so that the rubbing orbeater arms carchine toward and from the side walls of the suds-box. Inorder to center said stirrer-arms while permitting them to yieldinglyshift toward and from said side walls, spiral springs O C are interposedbetween the flanged sleeves or bushings 6 and the inner ends of the armsB B In the operation of the machine after the clothes have been placedin the suds-box and the lid closed down the rubbing or beater arms areswung backwardl y and forwardly therein to rub the clothes against theinterior rubbing-surfaces of the box by grasping the handle B of the armB of the beaterarm rock-shaft and swinging the outer or free end of saidarm to and fro. The weights B B, carried by the outer ends of said armsB B act to balance the movements of the rock shaft and the beater-arms,so as to prevent or minimize the effect of sudden and abrupt movementsthereof due to the engagement of the arms with the clothes in thesuds-box. In other words, during the swinging of the beater-arms in thesuds-box the resistance to their movement in different parts of theirswing is varied, owing to the fact that the clothes mass in the box isconstantly changing inits form, so that at times the mass presents agreater resistance to swing of the beater-arms than others. Again, theresistance to the swing of the beater-arms at the outer limits of theirmovement is greater than at the intermediate part of their movement, forthe reason that at the outer limit of their movement they act to raiseor lift part of the weight of the clothes mass. Such unequal resistanceto the swing of the arms, therefore, tends to give a jerking movement tothe shaft and to require more power to rock the shaft and swing the armsthan if the movements of the parts were uniform. The presence of thebalancing-weights B at the outer ends of the arms B B impart asmooth anduniform movement to the shaft and the arms, which partially or whollyovercome the tendency to a jerky or abrupt movement, due to the reasonsabove set forth. As before stated, owing to such approximate, uniform,and balanced action of the parts, the machine may be operated with theexpenditure of less labor and strength than in a machine not providedwith such balancing devices.

The purpose of the springs C is to permit the rubbing or beater arms toyieldingly shift transversely in the suds-box to allow said arms to passan unusually large bundle of clothes which may at any time accumulate atone side of the box without unduly increasing the resistance to theswing of said arms or the power necessary to swing the same or thetendency of the stirrer-arms to carry such accumulated bundle of clothesbodily from one side of themachine to the other. This feature of myinvention in combination with the corrugated inner surfaces of the sideWalls a of the box is of considerable importance, as it enables saidbeater-arms to yieldingly press a bundle of clothes against saidcorrugated surfaces and in a manner to most effectual] y cleanse or washthe same and at the same time not greatly increase the required power tooperate the machine. This feature of my invention may be applied toforms of actuating devices differing in the other features of itsconstruction from that herein shown.

The mounting of the beater-arm shaft on the swinging lid isadvantageous, for the reason that thereby said beater-arms, the shaft,and the actuating-arms therefor when the door or lid is opened are takenentirely away from the opening through which the clothes are insertedinto and removed from the suds-box.

Instead of applying the balance or governing weights to arms attached toor made integral with the opposite ends of the beaterarm shaft I mayapply said weights to oppositely-directed arms connected with the sameend of the shaft, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6. As therein shown, D Ddesignate the beaterarms, and D the beater-arm shaft, which is providedat one end with an operating-arm D having a handle D such as is providedin the construction before described. The other end of the shaft isprovided at its outer end with a weight D The said shaft D, itsbeater-arms attached thereto, and the manner of mounting the shaft inthe machine is the same as that described in connection with Figs. 1 toI, inclusive. In this form of the device the beater-arms are disposed ina plane transverse to the plane of the arms D", being located at aright-angle relation. The arrangement of the parts shown-in Figs. 5 and6 is preferable, as a smoother and more uniform action of the parts isattainable thereby.

The suds-box is made relatively narrow and deep rather than wide andshallow, and in some instances one instead of two or more rubbing orbeater arms may be employed. The narrow deep form of the box isadvantageous, as it insures not only more extended verticalrubbing-surfaces, but also it insures that more surface area of theclothes will be exposed to said rubbing-surfaces. The radial arrangementof the ribs on the inner faces of the side walls, when considered inconnection with the swinging rubbing-arms, which swing on an axiscoincident with the axis or point of convergence of said ribs, is anadvantage, as it insures that the coaction of said arms with the ribs isalways in directions transverse to the ribs and also prevents theclothes rising in the box away from the bottom thereof. The clothes areheld from rising for the reason that the side ribs are disposed at anangle to the vertical and tendency thereof to rise when moved outwardlyby the rubbing areas is resisted by the transverse relation of said ribsto the path of the clothes. The curved form of the bottom and front andICC rear wall of the box, disposed concentrically with respect to theaxis of oscillation of the rubbing or beater arms, is advantageousforthe reason that a uniform pressure is exerted by said arms throughthe clothes on the rubbing-surface of said wall in all parts of theswing of the arms.

Changes in the structural details may be made without departing from thespirit of my invention, and I do -.not wish to be limited thereto exceptas hereinafter made the subject of specific claims.

I claim as my invention 1. 'In a Washing-machine the combination withthe suds-box, of a straight horizontal shaft extending across thesuds-box and having bearing at the upper parts of the side walls of saidbox, an elongated narrow rubbing or beating arm attached at its upperend to the shaft near its center and adapted to extend into thesuds-box, means for rocking said shaft to swing said rubbing device, andarms rigid with and extending in opposite directions from said shaft andprovided with balanced Weights.

2. In a washing-machine the combination with a suds-box and a swingingelongated rubbing-arm therein, of a straight horizontal shaft extendingacross the suds-box beneath the top of the box to which the rubbingdevice is attached, arms rigid with and extending in opposite directionsfrom said shaft and provided with balanced weights, andmanuallyengageable means for rocking said shaft to swing said rubbingdevice.

3. In a washing-machine the combination with the suds-box, a'singleswinging rubbing device, a rock-shaft extending across the sudsbox towhich said rubbing device is immovably attached, and means for rockingsaid shaft to swing said rubbing device, of springs applied to saidshaft on both sides of the rubbing device and acting to hold the rubbingdevice centrally of the box while permitting the shaft to yield endwisein both directions to allow the rubbing device to yieldingly shifttoward and from both side walls of the box.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as HJALMAR LINDESTROM.

Witnesses:

WILLIAM L. HALL, GERTRUDE BRYCE.

